We regularly buy whole pigs and have them cut to our specs.

This is what works for me:

I dislike roast hams, so I ask for these to be kept whole. I smoke them for pulled pork.

I usually ask for the gammon (foreleg) to be kept whole, also for pulled pork,

I sometimes ask for the shoulders to be kept whole. I grind these myself for various dishes (Asian dumplings, pasta sauce which I make with a mix of pork, beef and lamb). I have also roasted the shoulder whole for a Korean dish - recipe from David Chang, delicious in small slices with rice and kimchee in lettuce leaves - or I make even more pulled pork (can you see a theme here?)

I have the loin cut into loin chops, or kept whole for a loin roast. I've had two whole loins kept whole for crown roast for a special dinner. This was a great success.

I have the belly smoked if the butcher does a good job of smoking, or part of it kept aside for braised belly pork, Thai or Chinese style, and I've made pancetta from Charcuterie. It's really easy and makes excellent pasta con fagioli.

I have the jowls kept whole. I've made guanciale from these, and also braised them like I would braise pork belly. I have two huge jowls on the stove right now being braised as for Thai moo wan.

I ask for everything - heart, kidneys, liver, fatback. I use the liver and heart and some fatback for country pate. I render the rest of the fatback for cooking. I cook the kidneys in a sweet-sour sauce, Chinese-style.

The butchers normally take all leftover bits and grind them. They will usually turn these into sausage and flavor to suit you, or you can keep the ground pork for other dishes.

It's a great way to buy pork, especially if you know how the pig is raised. I use every bit of it. To me the only reason to kill an animal is to eat it, and if you do that you shouldn't waste anything. You have a year of good eating ahead of you!

Cheryl

Like Cheryl, I regularly have whole pigs packaged.

We usually have one side of the loin made into pork chops and the other into loin roasts. Ribs are a given, of course. Hams are smoked and one is cut into half for two ham roasts, used for family dinners, the other is sliced about 3/4 inch thick for ham "steaks" for breakfast. Bacon can be smoked but we usually ask for the belly left whole so we can smoke it ourselves. I've also made pancetta using the recipe in "Charcuterie". It's easy as long as you have somewhere the correct temperature to age it, I used Elery's basement because mine was too warm. The hocks are smoked for beans and the jowls are made into jowl bacon.

The "picnic", butt/shoulder are left unsmoked so that we can smoke them for pulled pork, but if you don't have a smoker you'll probably want that done for you, along with the bacon/hocks/jowls.

A pig can have a LOT of fat, so you might want to specify how much you want to get to render, LOL. I also get the liver because it makes great dog treats, along with the heart and tongue. I let the butcher keep the kidneys.

You can pickle the trotters (feet) if you wish, I don't any more. Anything else gets ground. You can have it made into sausage if you wish, and they'll link it if you pay extra usually. I get mine just ground without seasonings and make sausage as it suits me. Many packagers now have several "blends" and they'll make various sausage mixtures for you. I'd rather do my own.

Yum, as Cheryl said, there's a year's worth of good eating there. Homegrown pork is usually more flavorful and not as lean as commercial pork, plus none of those "flavor enhancers". You'll have to experiment with your own pork, I've raised some that greatly benefits from being brined or marinated, the last one I got is perfectly delicious without anything at all other than salt and pepper.

I usually have mine packaged for two people, other than the ham halves, because it's easier to thaw an extra package than to try to refreeze it or use it up when the package has been opened for company or whatever.

Annie

I'm glad Annie posted because she knows her meats! She also mentioned some cuts I completely forgot. We always ask for the hocks to be smoked. They make great soups. I like the trotters, but I'll usually buy extra to make a big batch, otherwise it's too much trouble.

Ribs are another cut that just isn't enough for a hungry family. So I have to buy extra in order to justify starting up the smoker.

Like Annie we have everything packaged in small amounts because it's a bother having to thaw something out to take out a couple of chops or a pound of ground pork.

One thing I learnt when we first started doing this is to get a diagram of the various primal (large) pieces on the animal. You can find these by searching online. I took this to our butcher together with a written list of what I wanted. Sometimes what you think of isn't what they understand. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Cheryl

This post was edited by jadeite on Mon, Feb 25, 13 at 18:31

Cheryl, you're right, there just aren't enough ribs on a pig. WE usually have one big family BBQ and do all the ribs then. One big rib dinner and then they're gone. :-(

I agree, find a chart on the Web and it'll show you more what you want. If you want a crown roast, you'll have to give up other cuts, some people like thicker chops but want specific chops and the rest of the loin cut to roasts. A good chart is a big help.

Annie